At first glance, Paradise Kiss isn’t a type of anime that normal anime boys would like to invest their time with. After all, the anime is classified under the Josei genre, a genre that targets women between the ages of 18 to 35. However, the anime and the manga have been receiving high remarks, full of praise and admiration that I couldn’t help but to investigate and watch it myself.
The story of Paradise Kiss is simple: a young and serious girl named Yukari surreptitiously becomes a model by bumping into a group of fashion students. The series follows her voyage of self-realization and her struggle to become a model while battling her overbearing mother and her conscious. It’s a voyage filled with romance, cutesy girls, androgynous men, and pretty outfits. Yet Paradise Kiss manages to breathe new life into these worn clichés by adding massive amounts of style; from the second it starts to the second it ends, each of the twelve episodes of Paradise Kiss oozes style. It is probably the only anime I can think of that could be considered trendy. The animation is superb and highly detailed especially the hair and clothes of each of the characters. The music has to be my second favorite part of the show; next to its direction and camera work. The opening is one of my favorites in anime; Lonely in Gorgeous is a catchy synch pop song and the ending theme features Franz Ferdinand’s hit song “Do You Want To” which works well with the show. The performance is also brilliant; I really loved the dubbed version because it clicked to me more than the Japanese version. All in all, Paradise Kiss is a good show. It has its share of technical problems, but the story is a spot on representation of growing up, and its stylish execution is something worth watching.
- Story: 7/10
- Characters: 7/10
- Animation: 9/10
- VA Performance: 8.5/10
- Soundtrack: 9/10
Overall Score: 8/10
Posted by Sushi on February 6, 2008 at 4:34 am
Wanasa finally Josei!! Will check it out today.
Posted by Marzouq on February 6, 2008 at 11:00 am
It seems good but I’m feeling fighting animes these days, like Tenjou Tenge and that sort of thing! You know what I mean!
Posted by TAT on February 8, 2008 at 4:55 am
they should complete tejou tenge…. oh well might as well scout for torrents and see if this any good cant get enough anime since I stopped watching movies
Posted by Angelo on February 9, 2008 at 8:43 pm
@Sushi
You should. You will definitely like it
@Marzouq
I totally understand what you mean but sometimes it’s nice to break the norm once awhile and watch something completely different.
@TAT
LOL, you stopped watching movies for anime…awesome